Europe & Russia

Training Indigenous Forces in Counterinsurgency: A Tale of Two Insurgencies Dr James S Corum Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph examines the British experience in building and training indigenous police and military forces during the Malaya and Cyprus insurgencies. The two insurgencies provide a dramatic contrast to the issue of training local security forces. In Malaya, the British developed a very successful strategy for training the Malayan police and army. In Cyprus, the British strategy for building and training local security forces generally was ineffective. The author argues that some important lessons can be drawn from these case studies that apply directly to current U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine."

Victories are Not Enough Dr Samuel J Newland Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This Letort Paper is designed to explore these issues and provide an overview of the development of Germany as a nation and German military thought in the 19th century. It examines the origins of modern German military thinking and the concepts promoted by some of Germany’s key military and political leadership."

Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran Mr Patrick Clawson, Mr Henry D Sokolski Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Little more than a year ago, the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC) completed its initial analysis of Iran’s nuclear program, Checking Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions. Since then, Tehran’s nuclear activities and public diplomacy have only affirmed what this analysis first suggested: Iran is not about to give up its effort to make nuclear fuel and, thereby, come within days of acquiring a nuclear bomb. Iran’s continued pursuit of uranium enrichment and plutonium recycling puts a premium on asking what a more confident nuclear-ready Iran might confront us with and what we might do now to hedge against these threats."

Law vs. War: Competing Approaches to Fighting Terrorism Ms Shawn Boyne, Mr Michael German, Dr Dallas D Owens, Dr Paul R Pillar Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The readings in this volume address one of the fundamental assumptions underlying the conduct of the War on Terrorism―the nature of our enemy, whether perpetrators of terrorist activities are criminals or soldiers (combatants). Although the United States recognizes that terrorist acts are certainly illegal, it has chosen to treat, in many ways, perpetrators as combatants; but much of the world, including many of our traditional allies, have opted for a purely legalistic approach. Disagreement about assumptions is not the only basis for divergent policies for confronting terrorism, but certainly explains much of our inability to agree on strategies to overcome what we recognize as a serious common and persistent international problem."

The Strategic Implications of the Rise of Populism in Europe and South America Dr Steve C Ropp Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Populism has received very little attention from military planners. This is understandable. As a political phenomenon, it is viewed as somewhat removed from security concerns and hence as more legitimately within the purview of those members of the U.S. policy community who deal with political issues. Furthermore, as a dynamic, unstable, and ephemeral phenomenon within seemingly stable representative democracies, it is hard to “see” and hence to study. This makes trend extrapolation regarding the growth of populist movements much more difficult than for other future security challenges such as terrorism or unconventional war."

Pseudo Operations and Counterinsurgency: Lessons from Other Countries Dr Lawrence E Cline Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph examines the role of pseudo operations in several foreign counterinsurgency campaigns. Pseudo operations are those in which government forces disguised as guerrillas, normally along with guerrilla defectors, operate as teams to infiltrate insurgent areas. This technique has been used by the security forces of several other countries in their operations, and typically it has been very successful."

The Transatlantic Defense Industrial Base: Restructuring Scenarios and Their Implications Dr Terrence R Guay Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Today, U.S. and European defense firms are at a crossroads. Opportunities for the construction of a transatlantic defense sector are tangible, but significant obstacles may accelerate the formation of a bipolar industrial base. While market forces played a key role in the transformation and consolidation of these sectors in recent years, political considerations are largely responsible for a restructuring process that has been almost entirely among U.S. firms in the United States and among European Union companies in Europe."

Seizing the Day: Resolution in and around the Black Sea Dr Stephen J Blank Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "President Bush’s February 2005 meeting with European and Russian leaders represented an attempt to repair relations with each of these governments, with NATO, and with the European Union (EU). While Iraq, Iran, and Israel probably were the main issues in these meetings, recent events in the Black Sea basin provide an enormous opportunity to advance a common Western agenda and even possibly to associate Russia with an extension of the realm of security in Europe."

Strategic Implications of Intercommunal Warfare in Iraq Dr W Andrew Terrill Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The future of Iraq is uncertain. The country is in a dangerous phase. The removal of a brutal dictatorship by coalition forces in April 2003 has given the Iraqi people hope for a new and better political system, where individuals do not have to live in continuing fear and uncertainty. Nevertheless, the Iraqi people must also address the difficult challenges of self-government for a diverse population, with major ethnic and sectarian groups that often maintain widely divergent agendas. If they fail to do this and an ethnic/sectarian war ensues, the consequences will be dire, not only for Iraq, but for the entire Middle Eastern region."